As of July 2013, there are over a million apps in Google Play, the application platform for smartphones running on the Android operating system. CNME sifts through the weird and wonderful to find the top 10 must-have apps for users in the UAE.
1. Salik Recharge
Recharge your Salik accounts with total ease.
Using this app, you can create accounts for as many vehicles as you need, and save their account numbers and PIN codes (you only need to do that once for every vehicle) on your smartphone. The next time you need to recharge the account, all you need to do is select the vehicle and enter the “Salik recharge scratch-card” number.
You no longer need to postpone recharging your account because your account details are not available at hand, neither do you have to manually enter the same account data over and over again. Just start the app and enter the recharge card number.
Download the Salik Recharge app from Google Play here.
2. Zomato
The Zomato Restaurant Finder app gives you recommendations around you and lets you look at menus, pictures and maps. Zomato.com for Android also lets you check ratings and reviews of all restaurants in your city. The app allows you to:
– Search for restaurants by location, cuisine or name
– Get personalised recommendations through notifications by following foodies with similar taste and opinion on Zomato
– Use the “open now” filter to find restaurants open at a specific time
– View menus, pictures, directions, contact details and all the other information you need to choose a restaurant for any need
– Rate and review restaurants directly from the app
– Add restaurants to favourites, wishlist or ‘been-there’, and create a “to-do” list.
Download the Zomato Restaurant Finder app from Google Play here.
3. PicsArt – Photo Studio
PicsArt is the most popular free mobile photo editor with over 60 million downloads, and one of the fastest growing photo artists’ social networks.
The app is like an all-in-one collection of multiple editors — it is a free photo editor, photo grid and collage maker, drawing tool, and picture art network.
PicsArt Collage Maker allows users to create collages, using photo grid, free form collage maker, or using photos on backgrounds. PicsArt Photo Editor provides tons of photo manipulations, masks, collages, frames, borders, stickers, text effects, clipart graphics, callouts, crop, rotate and colour adjust. PicsArt Effects lets users apply effects to pictures using brush mode, allowing artists to control where and how much of the effect to apply to an image.
Download the PicsArt app from Google Play here.
4. Plume for Twitter
A beautiful and completely customisable Twitter app that will revolutionise the way you use Twitter. The highly customisable Plume is one of the best Twitter clients for Android.
Download the Plume app from Google Play here.
5. Google Chromecast
Chromecast is the new way to enjoy online video and anything from the Web on your TV. Plug it into any HDTV and control it with your existing smartphone, tablet or laptop — no remotes required. Cast your favourites from Google Play, YouTube, Netflix, and Chrome to your TV with the press of a button.
Download the Chromecast app from Google Play here.
6. VOX Cinema 
This application is design to provide you movie showtimes conveniently on your mobile device. Now you don’t have to go through newspapers or the website of each cinema; all you need is this single app which covers over 40 cinemas across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain, Ajman, Ras Al Khaima and Fujairah. In addition to timings you can view the movie ratings, cast, plot, trailer and other information about a movie.
Download the Vox Cinema app from Google Play here.
7. RTA Dubai
RTA Dubai is the RTA’s mobile interactive-based application for Dubai, which includes a list of services designed to support road and public transport users. The app allows users to report to RTA directly from their mobile device, find the nearest service centre, metro or bus station, facilitate the use of mParking Service, book taxis, calculate fares for NoL card users, and find other useful information like shopping opportunities, tourist places and health facilities.
Download the RTA Dubai app from Google Play here.
8. Dubai mParking
Dubai mParking is a solution developed by Emiapp to make it easy for drivers in Dubai to buy parking tickets around the city. Supporting both Arabic and English, the app learns zone location based on your use, and alerts you during free parking times so you never pay when you don’t have to.
Download the Dubai mParking app from Google Play here.
9. Dubai Metro
The Dubai Metro app is an effort to append convenience and flexibility to national and international tourists, and proud Dubai people, by providing essential information related to the Dubai Metro system. It is a very user-centric offline application which allows users to search routes, search by location, view interactive maps, check line and station information, and calculate fares.
Download the Dubai Metro app from Google Play here.
10. Instagram
With over 100 million downloads, Instagram is a must-have for all social media fanatics. It’s a simple way to capture and share the world’s moments on your Android. Users can easily customise their photos and videos with one of several custom-built filter effects, and transform everyday moments into works of art they can share with friends and family.
Download the Instagram app from Google Play here.
